Menu

Didn’t see that coming

Today’s broadcast of Prose and Ivy Cubs Blog Talk Radio went really well I must say for the first live broadcast. I didn’t get word out nearly early enough for people to know about it, mark it on their calendars and call in. But the technology is really cool and I think it’s going to be a blast to do in conjuction with the written aspect of Prose and Ivy. I’ll be sure to let you all know when the next broadcast is going to be well in advance this next time so you can call in and share your thoughts. Talk radio is a whole lot cooler when people call in…er, even listen for that matter. Next time, more advanced notice for sure.

What I didn’t see coming, was the final score of Reds 7, Cubs 5. Sonnufa….I swear. I left my apartment and it was 5-5 going into the top of the ninth inning. Marmol was in and I figured we were good. I can’t believe he walked two in a row. That’s the real surprise. Sure, Marmol has a tendency to be a little wild. But his stuff his undeniably nasty and I stand by it that he is the Cubs best option for closer and should have been the guy since Opening Day 2009. Going into 2010 I also believe he should be the guy. Unless he happens to be taking off guys’ heads like Rick Vaughn did to wooden displays of batsmen in Major League, honestly, he’s our guy. So, I’m on the talk show boasting about Marmol being the guy…I hang up (the show is recorded from your phone)…I look at my email and there’s a message with the final Cubs score….Reds 7, Cubs 5…loser? Marmol. Sonnufa…well, whatever. I don’t know…we didn’t deserve to be tied in the ninth anyway. Unbelievably poor support of Wells today. Unreal. If it’s not inconsistent hitting, it’s poor fielding. Our starters can’t catch a break. Read an article on Cubs.com today that reinforced my comments on air regarding quality starts from our rotation this year and how our team’s bats have pretty much taken them and thrown them away, never to matter again. It’s really unbelievable when you think that our starters have a 3.76 ERA and we’re on the cusp of being eliminated from playoff contention, whereas last year we won the division with the same group of guys basically, and they had an ERA of 3.75. Two solid years from the rotation. Two very different results.

Whatever moves are made in the off-season, I hope they revolve around studying how clutch guys are and what they’re average is with guys in scoring position. I hope that is taken into great consideration. That, and speed. Maybe if we can find a couple guys with high OBP’s with some speed and timely hitting, maybe THAT will put this team over the top. Maybe it’s not a ‘left handed power hitter’ that we need now or really needed this past off-season. Maybe it’s simply a couple of speedy small ball guys to jump start the offense and fill in the necessary grind in between the large bats we already had on the team who are paid to go yard.

I don’t know. I just know that as soon as I saw the email with the final game result with Marmol as the loser, I just said out loud “well, that figures”. Left my apartment to do the radio show as they were entering the top of the ninth. We had overcome an inning filled with three errors early on to tie it up and now our most reliable bullpen guy was on the mound. I thought, hey, this looks good to me. Went out and put out a passionate plea to anyone who would listen to make Marmol the guy from here on out and through 2010. Bam. Two walks and a double. Reds win. Marmol loses. Didn’t see that coming.

Also didn’t see this coming either…apparently a pretty cool sports blogger conference that happened in June in NYC. Another one coming up in Vegas in October. My wife was upset that I watched 5 innings of Cubs baseball on my honeymoon one afternoon (she got over it and was cool afterwards, but at first…not so much)….imagine if we’d been married in October and I snuck off to this? Now that would have made for an interesting radio show. Check it out, pretty cool concept. Hope to catch the next one next time they do it in New York.

Writing for:

MLB.COMVINE LINE MAGAZINE - The official publication of the Chicago CubsBASEBALL DIGESTCONNECTICUT TIGERS - Class A Short Season Minor League Affiliate of the Detroit Tigers
Writing Samples available HERE